Abstract
Aspergillosis is a major health problem in captive penguins due to the inhalation and the development of airborne spores of opportunistic environmental molds of the genus Aspergillus. Diagnosis is often delayed and treatments, based on the use of azole antifungals, are not fully effective. This study assesses the risk of exposure to Aspergillus sp. and determines the environmental reservoirs in the direct environment of a colony of Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in a zoological park in Paris, and the risk of contamination with resistant isolates. Every 15 days between February and May 2022, environmental samples (air and subtract from the nests, pond water, pigeon and penguin droppings) were carried out in the penguin enclosure as well as clinical samples (one-time non-invasive sampling on chicks), and screened for Aspergillus sp. conidia. From 191 environmental samples, 264 strains of Aspergillus including 221 strains of A. fumigatus were isolated, mostly from ambient air, in the nests, and pond water. No “at risk” areas in the penguin environment have been highlighted, nor an increased risk because of the proximity with urban wild birds. However, the load of airborne Aspergillus in the nests increased significantly with outdoor temperature. Of the 221 strains isolated, we identified only one azole-resistant strain, displaying the TR34/L98H mutation in the cyp51A gene. This low prevalence of resistant strains may probably be partly explained by the urban location of the zoological park, surrounded by kilometers of urban areas without agricultural activities.
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The data presented in this study are available upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the staff of the Parc Zoologique de Paris for their help during field sampling, Lorra Monpierre (Dynamyc) for providing the references strains, the members of the Dynamyc research team for their advices and the histology and pathology unit and parasitology unit (Ecole nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort) for the material support and their advices.
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Conceptualization, P.A., J.G., G.J., and F.B.; methodology, J.G., G.J., P.A., V.R. and T.B.; validation, J.G., G.J., V.R., I.V. and P.A.; formal analysis, T.B., V.R. and I.V.; investigation, T.B., S.L., A.S., A.L. and V.R.; data curation, T.B., V.R.; writing—original draft preparation, T.B.; writing—review and editing, All the authors; supervision, J.G, P.A., and G.J.; project administration and funding, G.J. and F.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Supplemental Fig. 1. Dendrogram representation by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) illustrating the relationship among A. fumigatus isolates used in the study. Only strains with an A score according to the Bruker database (Bruker, Bremen, Germany) were included (n = 164). The scale on the y-axis represents the relative distance used in the clustering analysis using the wild VML strain as main spectra (MSP) reference. The phyloproteomic tree depicts the isolates distributed in five clusters; nevertheless, the isolates of none of the clusters are related to either type of sampling, sample origin or date of sampling. The red arrowhead indicates the position of the azole-resistant strain Af 7E6.
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Bralet, T., Risco-Castillo, V., Valsecchi, I. et al. Aspergillosis in a colony of Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in a french zoological park: evaluation of environmental exposure. Vet Res Commun 48, 437–448 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10220-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10220-z